Modern integrated circuit (IC) devices generate large amounts of thermal energy during operation, which negatively impacts their performance, and if not removed, can cause damage through various mechanisms. The two most common forms of heat related damage include separation of dissimilar materials due disparate rates of thermal expansion, and cracking due to material stress during thermal expansion and contraction. Therefore, a number of cooling devices are implemented to remove thermal energy from integrated circuit devices. Most such devices function at least in part by thermal conduction through physical contact with a portion of an IC device.
Resistance to thermal conduction at an interface between an IC device and a cooling device can undermine the efficiency and effectiveness of the cooling device. Therefore, numerous thermal interface materials (TIMs) have been developed to more efficiently conduct heat from the IC device to the cooling device. For example, indium, which is quite malleable, has a relatively low melting temperature, and conducts thermal energy fairly effectively, has emerged as a useful thermal interface material. The market cost of indium, however, has dramatically increased recently, substantially increasing the cost of IC device packages utilizing an indium TIM. Changing to a different material entails sacrificing some of the benefits provided by indium, or, alternatively, involves more complicated and/or expensive manufacturing process. For example, attempting to implement a TIM which is less malleable or has a substantially higher melting point, presents substantial challenges and a potential obstacle to the current pace of development and implementation of very small but powerful IC device technologies. Applications calling for a very thin TIM in a thin bondline between an IC device and a cooling device particularly benefit from the inherent characteristics of indium.